The Darkness Beyond
by Aviskye
Summary: Avi Skye, the young queen of an enormous kingdom that dominated the world of Minecraft, has to face a daunting new challenge as her cities are razed without warning by the Endermen who seem determined to conquer all. A semi-realistic record of Avi's less-than-epic actions taken to save her race from extinction (based off real gameplay experience). Rated T for occasional violence.
1. Prologue

**A/N: So…I'll begin with a more elaborate introduction: this story is mainly based off my experience in an ongoing Minecraft world of mine where I'm currently playing through a challenge with the same title as this (I used the title only after receiving permission from the creator, of course), with bits of fiction mixed in to make the account more interesting. If you're interested in the challenge itself, search for "Darkness Beyond" under the author Thistle on the Minecraft Forums. Credit goes to Thistle (child-dragon on this site) for the challenge creation and all that it entails.**

**Special thanks to Mellifluousness here, since she helped me out a great deal during the early stages of this story, as well as recommended the titles which I was always stumped on…**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

_A stately, immense hall with attenuated windows, closed to the world by delicate birch wood shutters. Abundant pennants hung, as motionless as the throng gathered below – all of them garbed in absolute finery, their sumptuous attire proclaiming their noble echelons._

_Each and every gaze was fixed upon one figure proceeding down the centre of the structure. She was clothed in a regal gown of opalescent satin, the skirt's scalloped edges brushing the carpeted pathway noiselessly; long floral sleeves draped over her hands, and a necklace of flawless gold and diamond adorned her neck. Her face was partly obscured by lustrous black curls that reached past her shoulders. Tears sparkled in eyes of a likewise inky hue as she approached a dais on which stood a resplendent diamond throne webbed by filigree and studded with glittering emeralds. Around her clustered countless nobilities from the kingdom – _her _kingdom. Her name was Avi Skye. She was fourteen. And the ongoing event was her coronation._

_The past few months had been complete insanity for her: The kingdom that was strong and well-managed by the ruler, the Queen – as her husband had long vanished to parts unknown – prior to her abrupt and inopportune death, was on the cusp of being launched into turmoil by seekers of power while Avi, the rightful heir being the former Queen's only child was forced to take up a multitude of responsibilities and confront many perils lurking in wait._

_Yet all of that were right then nothing but dark memories__. At the time, she was being crowned. She thought she could finally end her fears of the kingdom dissolving into chaos._

_She had no clue how very wrong she was._

_The world had always been fraught with various species of monsters that appeared during the night, but for long decades mankind had not been threatened by them as the mighty walls of their cities kept them at bay – except for one, the Endermen, a peculiar kind with unknown history and a lanky, humanoid shape with midnight-black scales that towered above men and were well-known for their unstoppable teleportation abilities. However, they were never hostile unless one looked into their violet eyes – until that disastrous night._

_With no apparent cause, the Endermen commenced a violent assault on one of the major cities governed by the Queen, now Queen Skye, and within a matter of hours nigh on the complete number of residents were brutally slaughtered. All that remained were crumbling walls, blood and corpses._

_The news spread like lightning, carried by a few courageous soldiers who ensured that all were forewarned. Yet they were completely defenceless against the mysterious powers of the Endermen as well as their unbelievable strength._

_As the days went by, accounts of countless deaths continued to pour in. No one even questioned why their new Queen had taken no action – they knew that retaliation or even self-defence was hopeless and there was next to no chance to avoid the extinction of humans; every attempt to communicate with the Endermen had also failed. Yet, as the Ender army drew ever closer to the heart of the kingdom, there came an extraordinary message – and an unexpected discovery._

_First was the report that the distant city of Azura had seemingly discovered a way to repel the Endermen. Second, when Queen Skye was skimming through the vast amount of collected knowledge in the great library at dusk one day, she found an impossibly ancient tome that bespoke of magical spells. Intrigued, the Queen summoned her Royal Mage, Riane. Within an hour he confirmed it to be the only probable method of survival after further news had been received from Azura. The citizens had long been devoted to the research of water, and it was recently discovered that the substance could act as a temporary barrier between Endermen and humans, but it would only be a matter of time before the city's supplies were depleted._

_After swift, impromptu gatherings and experiments, the inspiration caused by the uncovered spell was definite. The magic which dictated the ability to ward off Endermen could not be maintained for more than one structure, much less an entire city, and hence it was decided that a rallying location was found between the main city and Azura, and that a small group was sent in advance to the suggested location to build a refuge that will be able to house all the survivors of the kingdom. The sole hindrance was that it was an absolute necessity for the group to remain inconspicuous while travelling._

_With the pressing need to take action at all possible speed, eventually another decision was made: the group will consist of only Queen Skye and Riane. Considering that the survivors from Azura would take some time to arrive, many were confident that the two of them would be able to construct a shelter before then._

_That very night, the journey into the future of uncertainty began._

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Updates as of February 15-18, 2013: Edited the entire chapter drastically.**


	2. Arrival

**A/N: For everyone who had praised, reviewed, followed and/or favourited my work, you have my immense thanks. I didn't expect a prologue that short to receive around a dozen visitors within 6 hours, much less for that number to double overnight, and of course you also have my thanks for pointing out errors, which I fixed earlier. I was totally shocked by the amount of followers I got, too – honestly, that was just a prologue and you might change your mind about whether you like this story when you read the chapter below.**

**So…I hope this chapter isn't too bad, and thanks again. By the way, I had to add some elements or the story will stop making sense…**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

"We have arrived, Your Majesty."

"Hm?"

Alertness snapping into her thought-clouded mind, Avi scanned the landscape before her. The wilderness was foggy underneath a slowly brightening overcast sky, and all she could see was a forest veiled by morning mist. As their steeds descended a tree-covered hill, she tugged at the reins of her chestnut stallion and directed it towards a small pond as Riane did the same. When they neared the water, they stopped the horses and Avi dismounted awkwardly, wincing as she did so – a few anxious days spent in a saddle were not at all comfortable.

As the horses drank, the two tied them to nearby trees and began to explore the area. Avi glanced at Riane occasionally; the face of the wiry black-haired man in his late thirties was blank until they walked past the edge of the forest where they, upon seeing what was in front of them, stopped dead.

A ravine tore open the ground in front of them, forming jagged stone sides that were almost completely vertical. As Avi's eyes followed it to its far end, she saw that its shape was in a slight curve, like a lopsided smile.

"Did anyone know this was here?" she murmured to Riane.

"None of the gathering's participants, I believe," he replied, "you are quite fortunate. I would be hard-pressed to see you constructing a large enough shelter within three days otherwise."

"Well," Avi frowned, "I am still rather confused as to why we chose this location. It is rather dreadful for building something, I would say. It would take too much time to cut down all the trees in one area."

"Surely you have learnt before that the geographical features of this area is less than satisfactory, Your Majesty. It will be unrealistic for us to try to find a flawless building location in such a short period of time." Before Avi could answer him, he was taking off the pack of supplies they had hastily gathered before setting off.

Avi examined the items. 2 sticks, 6 blocks of wood planks, 1 wooden and stone pickaxe each, 2 stone axes, 4 torches and 3 apples.

"Right, then," she said, hefting one of the axes, "should we try to find a vantage point?"

"I can do that and wait by the horses while you gather the materials for the shelter."

"I thought we were going to co-operate?"

"That is simply absurd," he snapped, "I am going to be maintaining the spell for a long time and I need to garner the strength for it. I shall wait by the pond and tell you what I found after you return."

"Fine," Avi sighed, snatching up a stone pickaxe as Riane re-packed the items. "I will be back in the afternoon."

Riane nodded and walked back the way the two had came from. Within seconds the dense trees had obscured his form, and Avi felt a tinge of anxiety. _What now…?_

She decided that the first priority will be to get to the bottom of the ravine, and she will need to establish a method for that. A staircase will be out of the question; there was no room for such a thing. Ladders could not work either since she had no time to collect the necessary wood – the most reasonable idea seemed to be a small quarry as she could gather the stone for the shelter at the same time.

She began mining, and for the first time was grateful for the hardly pleasant months she spent studying a wide range of subjects under the strict supervision of numerous mentors, dragging herself through each day and things she thought she would never need. She was wrong, though – even though her palms were rougher than they used to be, she did not receive any unbearable blisters while gathering stacks of cobblestone.

After five layers and a few pieces of coal, Avi realised she was running out of time and climbed the steps along the edge of the quarry as fast as possible, fetching her crafting table along the way. The copious amounts of dirt and cobblestone she gathered slowed her down, but she managed to get to the pond by mid-afternoon.

"Riane?"

He stepped out from between the trees, leading the horses. "I ascended the hill," he informed Avi, "and saw by its foot a small clearing bordering a swamp and water. It appears to be the only place empty of trees within visible distance."

"We should go, then," Avi answered, taking the reins of her horse but not climbing on it – if what Riane said was true, they did not have too much distance to cover and she would rather avoid aggravating her saddle sores. The Mage glanced at her and also refrained from mounting his steed.

"Did you find any iron, Your Majesty?" Riane asked as they went up the hill.

"No," was Avi's curt reply.

They led their horses forward and Avi soon saw the clearing Riane mentioned. She examined it as they made the steep descent; it was small and overall unattractive. _When I expand, I will have to extend the refuge's foundation to above the water,_ she thought.

But at the moment, all she worried about was constructing a shelter before nightfall. As Riane went to find a place for the horses, she took out her stack of cobblestone, hesitated for a moment as rough calculations spun through her mind, and began to lay the blocks down in a 3x3 area. Once a tiny cobblestone hut was created, Avi sped inside, placed a crafting table on the ground and started working.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, Riane ducked into the hut, wordlessly handing Avi half a dozen blocks of wood before sitting down in the corner and saying, "I am not going to bother with the spell, Your Majesty. It is unlikely that Endermen know we are here, and it is easy to cast if needed."

Avi nodded as she made a chest and placed most of their materials inside.

Midnight had passed, by Avi's calculations, before she saw movement in the distance – a bloodstained zombie with its back facing its watchers. Then a skeleton appeared near it, holding its bow upright, a black chain wrapped across its skull. As she shifted her gaze to the left, she spotted a large Slime bobbing slightly in water.

She turned to the left and peered out of the gap in the wall blocked by sticks. A small Slime bounced nearby, drawing closer until it leapt up to the makeshift window and pressed itself against the sticks, continuing to bounce at a more frantic speed.

Riane followed Avi's gaze and asked, "Have you not seen Slimes before, Your Majesty?"

"Not live ones," she muttered.

"I would not worry about it. They are easy enough to kill."

Avi started to reply but stopped as she noticed an orange glow filling the eastern sky. "Dawn is near."

"You certainly have a heavy workload, Your Majesty."

"I know," Avi sighed, drawing her sword and sliding her fingers down the flat of the blade which was likely to get coated in slime within moments.

"Do not forget that the survivors will depend on us."

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed the PoV to third person and edited some capitalisation and adjectives. I also cut useless bits off the A/N.**

**Update as of February 28, 2013: Edited the chapter some more because I felt like it…**


	3. Construction

**A/N: Well, looks like I just need to clear up something pointed out by LexiLopezi. Thanks for that, by the way.**

**About how this story is a bit Sueish: this was never actually meant to be a fanfiction that I expect the majority of readers would like because it's not Sueish at all. It's more of just a record of experiences I wrote to entertain myself with, and that I thought some readers might enjoy, too. Really, I'm not seeking a unique storyline or anything.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Avi broke the sticks blocking the hole, allowing the Slime to leap in before she stabbed. It toppled, its body dissolving into nothingness and leaving nothing behind, either. Riane did not have the slightest reaction.

After a swift look through the other windows, Avi took her pickaxe and shovel and rushed out of the hut, jumped onto higher grounds and pivoted quickly as she tried to find monsters. She saw none and consequently proceeded to walk towards her quarry after wiping the slime off her sword on blades of grass.

Upon arriving at the pond their horses drank at the day before, Avi spotted through the dense foliage a skeleton in the water. Her heartbeat quickening, she re-adjusted her grip on her sword and ran out of the trees' cover, a cry ringing from her throat. The skeleton whipped around, nocking an arrow, but before it could shoot Avi had slashed at it, sending it skidding backwards in the water. It reacted by jumping out, suddenly lit ablaze for a moment by the sunlight, and shooting – but missed as its opponent dodged to one side, waded into the water, and reduced the monster to crumbling bones by frenzied slashes. Avi picked up the arrows it dropped and hurried back to her mine.

However, afternoon had arrived before she could reach the bottom of the ravine. Muttering angrily to herself, she went up the stairs, trembling with hunger.

The first thing she did after returning to their shelter was snatching up two of the apples they had collected and devouring them ravenously. Riane stirred in the corner, glanced at her, and closed his eyes again.

"I would not be able to gather any iron until tomorrow," Avi informed him.

The Mage nodded silently, his slightly angled eyebrows meeting in a frown. Avi walked back out, shovel in hand.

She flattened the space in front of the hut, and then laid out the foundation and first blocks of the refuge. It took her several tries, but she managed to create rounded corners and a 3-block high wall before the sun had set. Once she had thrown out some torches (crafted from her newly-found coal and some sticks) to ensure that monsters would not spawn indoors, she started shovelling out the grass floor, replacing it with cobblestone, and went on to construct the ceiling, completing it before sunrise.

She wearily walked back into the hut and looked out of the window directly in front of her to find a shriek escaping her. Riane jolted and looked at her, frowning, and then at the window.

A skeleton stood right outside.

"What is there to be afraid of, Your Majesty?" There was an almost undetectable hint of contempt in his voice.

"It is simply shocking to see a skull staring at you through a window," Avi replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

The skeleton went out of sight. Moments later Avi heard a _whoosh_ of fire and a clatter of bones, and then all was silent.

"If I were you, Your Majesty, I would attempt to find some iron today," Riane said abruptly.

"Ah, right," Avi sighed, "I _am_ going to."

Just when she was about to remove two blocks from the wall and put a temporary wooden door in its place, it began to shower. Riane paid no attention to it, although Avi grimaced at the thought of mining in open air.

By mid-afternoon, she dashed back to the shelter to hastily construct a furnace and smelt 6 blocks of iron ore along with a few pieces of coal, drying her clothes in the meantime. By sunset, an iron gate had been fitted into the new frame and Avi breathed a sigh of relief.

Only when she had consumed the remaining apples did she realise the problem at about the same time Riane did.

"Have you thought about food at all, Your Majesty?"

"No," Avi admitted.

For the first time in two days, an expression appeared on the Mage's face as he scowled. "Of course. I was expecting you to forget at least one aspect of the basic necessities of life."

Avi blinked, kept herself from answering, and instead cleared her throat. "Um, I suppose the entrance hall to the shelter is now finished. You can enter; it is much more spacious."

Riane nodded, stood slowly, and opened the wooden door. Meanwhile Avi gathered up the furnace, crafting table and chest and carried them to the far end of the new room, where she deposited them in a row under the southern window.

"I would expect that the first survivors will arrive tomorrow morning," Riane stated, sitting down in a corner.

"Will they have enough provisions to keep themselves supplied for a few days?"

"Most likely."

Avi nodded and sat against a wall, closing her eyes and hoping that she had done enough to house those who will arrive shortly.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Darkness cloaked the forest. Clouds obscured the night sky above and the air was still and soundless.

On a small rise, shielded behind several oaks, was a thin 3-block-high form as dark as the shadows save for a pair of violet eyes that glinted in the darkness. It was as unmoving as the forest itself until another figure emerged, stopping before it and lowering its head.

They began conversing in a tongue that none but their own race could understand; midst the low burbling sounds a couple of words were audible that could be identified as incomprehensibly long names. Then abruptly the second silhouette vanished, leaving behind dissipating particles the same colour as his eyes.

The remaining Enderman slowly weaved his way to the top of the rise, peering above the foliage that concealed his form. A moment later, he became motionless save for his flickering eyes.

He did not have to wait for long. As shards of moonlight pierced world below through a gap in the clouds, turning the forest from its previous black shade to a dark grey, the north-western part of the biome suddenly burst into an enormous ring of fire bright enough to dazzle any normal human accustomed to darkness. The orange flames seemed to be controlled in a certain radius, outside of which it licked nearby trees and singed the leaves but did not ignite them.

A mere second afterward, the inside of the circle exploded into chaos. Shouts filled the air, followed by bellowed orders and horses' neighing, the fire's cackling underlying them all. Soon after, the flames faltered. As if on cue, a group of Endermen emerged from the forest and completely encircled the burning area even as men leapt across the dissolving fire, brandishing weapons and yelling incoherent battle-cries.

The Endermen moved forward, stepping over the ring of fire as they dispatched the warriors mercilessly, crushing helmets and snapping swords like twigs with their thick, mighty fingers. As the humans' last line of defence fell, the black figures moved further into the circle and surrounded the wagon occupying the centre, ignoring bolting horses and drawing the flames inward with them.

More screams resounded in the forest as the women and children were slaughtered, whether they attempted to escape or not. With their bloody work complete, the Endermen moved back through the dying flames and then disappeared into the night, leaving behind showers of purple particles that gathered above what remained after the assault before fading away.

Nothing was left of that part of the forest aside from an ash-carpeted clearing dotted with charred tree stumps, pieces of wood from the wagon's remains splayed across the ground. As clouds above hid the moon from view again, all was dark and silent once more.

The Enderman who had been watching from afar tilted his square black head, a low, pleased rumbling coming from his throat. Then he, too, vanished.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of December 10, 2012: The Endermen PoV is added. Hopefully that makes the chapter a bit more interesting.**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed PoV to third person, edited some capitalisation & adjectives in the Endermen PoV, and of course removed parts of the overly-long A/N…**

**Update as of March 1, 2013: More edits…**


	4. Stowaway

**A/N: Oh gosh…over 100 views! I originally intended to publish this chapter a little later, but I just feel like putting up some form of thanks. This chapter is even shorter than the last but I hope it's more interesting. And it did happen. Sort of.**

**Anyway (I guess this is going to be my most used word in A/Ns), I totally wasn't expecting reviews, follows and favourites from people I don't even know. I just want to say I appreciate each and every one of you and all the comments you've written, and that I'll reply when I can – and if there's more than a thank you to write...for the Guest comments, the responses will be at the end of the chapters, as well as replies to any other questions, in order to avoid boring the readers with unnecessarily long A/Ns before the chapter.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

At dawn, a caravan from Azura arrived. Their numbers were few but it was unknown whether they were the only survivors – the journey had been long and arduous, and they had lost many men on the way. One thing was certain: Riane was required to begin the spell in case the Endermen had followed the citizens of Azura.

Those who managed to reach the shelter crowded into the only room, talking to and comforting each other.

Avi jumped onto a block of wooden planks in the middle of the room, clearing her throat. All voices died and everyone turned towards her, some of them with confused expressions – she had already made a short speech a moment ago.

"Excuse me, I wanted to know: how many of you are there?"

One of the priests, Father Jerome (who had mainly been the leader of the group during the trip), spoke.

"Ten, Your Majesty, although there were many more when we began our journey. We would have preferred to take more, but unfortunately there were only a few working wagons at the time – the accursed Endermen wrecked all others – and too many people can slow us down."

"Thank you," Avi nodded, "allow me to count."

She muttered the numbers under her breath, her eyes widening as she reached 11. She counted again, more carefully. Still 11.

"…There are eleven of you," she informed them.

The people stared at each other, muttering in surprise before beginning to look through the people and identifying them, asking questions once in a while. A moment later, a female librarian wheeled around a boy who was apparently bothering Riane just a while ago – a kid no more than 10 years old with brown hair and dusty, worn clothes and whom nobody had been paying attention to.

Everyone gaped.

"Does anyone know him?"

Silence.

"What is your name?" The librarian turned to the boy.

"Pearce," the boy replied in a raspy voice.

"Are your parents still alive?"

"No," Pearce said, staring at the woman blankly.

"Do you know anyone here?"

Again, the answer was negative.

"Why did you—"

"You're being unfair, you are," Pearce interrupted loudly, his eyes suddenly blazing. "None of us were allowed on the wagon. You only took stupid grown-ups! We aren't heavy, are we? Why did you leave us to get killed by those horrible Endermen?"

"We could not—"

"You can! You could have! Why did you give us no chance at all?"

"Pearce," said the librarian sternly, "none of us would have lived if—"

"I don't care! You don't know for sure, do you? My sister had to die because you never tried! I…"

Sighing to herself, Avi stepped off the block and slipped out of the door. Using a button she had attached to the wall earlier to unlock the gate, she walked out and towards her quarry.

Some time after noon, she managed to reach the bottom of the ravine. She wanted to mine some more but remembered her food situation, so she went back up to the surface to look for seeds instead.

Soon after, she went back into the refuge to craft a hoe, and raced back out to till some soil near water and sow the seeds.

When she went back in for a moment to craft, nobody noticed her. They seemed to be anxiously talking about something and when Avi returned to shelter for the night, she asked them about it.

"That foolish boy Pearce went outside," Father Jerome said bluntly.

"What?" Avi exclaimed, "Why?"

"He was saying something about despising us and that he would rather take down the Endermen himself than stay with us – he also seemed to believe we will never be able to avenge his sister, with our apparent cowardice."

"Wha—" Avi stifled a curse and spun around, but the priest grabbed her arm. "He cannot be saved," he said gravely, "we will just have to pray. The sun is setting, and even if you do find him, he would not listen."

Avi opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it and reminded herself, _you are the Queen here. It would not do if you get yourself killed._

"Fine," She said, barely stopping a tremor from entering her voice.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**A/N: Okay, this is to the question dgmnfangirl asked. One way that this challenge is completed is to finish all stages of building the shelter (detailed on the forum thread), so I guess right now this story is about its construction. But then again, the second method of completion is to kill the Enderdragon, which I plan to pursue. Thus it can be said that this story's focus will shift slightly after the first stage of the challenge – finish building – is completed in my TDB world, and that hopefully the writing will then become slightly less boring since adding some elements and characters will be needed.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed PoV to third person and fixed the errors in formal dialogue, as well as removed some no longer valid explanations in the A/N.**

**Update as of March 1, 2013: More edits…**


	5. Waylon

**A/N: Have a (late, for some time zones) Christmas present, guys, and say hello to a new character (based off another runaway villager)!**

**Also, this will be my last update in a while, I'm afraid. I do have the next few chapters written but they need some editing along with another PoV added to each one, and **_**those**_** might take some time considering my insufferable procrastination and relentless need for time. I just really don't feel like being pressured into adding more entertainment into the story just for the readers' sake, because this is more of a personal record than a story designed to amuse bored people.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

The night was spent visibly uncomfortably for most and Avi hated that she was powerless about it. Accustomed to not sleeping properly at night, she sat beside Riane, inhaling deeply to calm herself. She was not certain when the Endermen will arrive or whether they even managed to follow the route the citizens had taken, considering everything they did to confuse the monsters, but she knew she would have to work harder than ever to provide adequate shelter for all the refugees. The idea that they could co-operate came to mind, but from Avi's experience in the past few days, it will be impossible to meet the food supply requirement if everyone laboured all day.

Once the sun had risen, Avi crafted another pickaxe and hurried out, over the hill, and started another small quarry beside her original one. It took her a while to realise that she could simply attempt to reach bedrock in one of them, but she thought she should dig down to the bottom of the ravine with the new mine first.

She returned by sunset as per usual, tiredly greeted the refugees, and piled stack after stack of cobblestone and dirt into the chest to the point she heard exclamations. Many offered help, although they were subdued after she had explained the reason for them to stay put. "Your supplies are thin and I cannot feed all of you – not now, at least. Your hunger is less likely to increase dramatically if you refrain from working."

"Your Majesty, you are the _Queen_," one argued, "any one person should be able to replace you. You are not supposed to be toiling for refugees like a common worker!"

"Wrong," Avi replied steadily, "because I _am_ your Queen it means it is my duty to care for you."

There were numerous other protests, but Avi managed to convince them to allow her to work for them until she could establish a method of continuous nourishment.

The following morning, Avi did not mine. Instead she retrieved from the chest a few stacks of cobblestone and went outside to make some calculations.

Her plan was to expand the shelter in a ripple-like way outwards while keeping the shape of the entrance hall, and it was near noon before she finished the frame for the first expansion. Once it was complete, however, she launched into work, aiming to get the walls done before sunset and succeeding, putting up the torches even as the sky darkened above her. Once she added some sticks to block off the 1x1 windows, she removed the windows of the entrance hall, turning two of the openings into doorways on the sides that led to the new part of the refuge. She allowed herself a momentary glow of satisfaction before taking a piece of steak she had gathered out of the chest and tearing at it hungrily.

"That was impressive, Your Majesty," remarked Father Jerome.

"The floor and ceiling has yet to be finished, but thank you," she answered after swallowing her mouthful of meat with some difficulty. The others were having 'dinner' as well – or rather, just bits of food that kept them from starving. In the middle of the construction of the frame Avi had went to check on her wheat, and was delighted to find several of them matured. She peered into the chest to count them: 5 seeds and 3 bundles of wheat, just enough for a loaf of bread. _They might be needed for luring animals, though, _she thought, _wool is needed for the beds and I am at a loss to where to find them…_

Still pondering, Avi made her way outside and began to construct the ceiling, completing it and the floor by sunrise, just as her supply of cobblestone was nearly depleted. After a brief message given to Father Jerome, She took an axe out of the chest and went out to chop down a few trees to make doors. She did not return immediately, though, and instead went to her second quarry and began to mine again.

In the late afternoon, she returned with three stacks of cobblestone which were immediately put to use in the outer ring, which will be the dormitories. Initially, the question of how people can enter their rooms without walking through others' spaces baffled Avi, until she discovered she could easily convert what used to be the three windows of the entrance hall into three doors that led to short hallway-like spaces with doors on each side, which will then open into small rooms. The ventilation shaft was changed to a trapdoor in the middle of the roof, which Avi planned to move when she began to build the second floor.

As Avi worked to separate room from room with cobblestone walls, she found Father Jerome looking out of the window; she greeted him and they started conversing while Avi continued to build. While they did, Avi found herself expressing her concerns over beds.

"Have you seen any sheep nearby?" Avi inquired.

Father Jerome shook his head, saying, "I did not, but we spent most of our time in the wagon and could have easily missed a herd."

"I cannot see how I can gather the wool required for beds unless I venture far, then."

"But you should not," came the alarmed reply, "what will become of us if you meet your end somewhere out in the wilderness?"

"I…" Avi faltered, and shook her head. "Then this remains an issue for us, and I want to make sure everyone is well rested."

"You can always send someone else," he proposed.

Avi slowly turned to look at him. "Who will be daring enough for such a task?"

"My son."

"Who?"

"Waylon. He is seventeen, the youngest in the caravan. He was training as a librarian before we were attacked."

"Oh, I see…" for a while Avi was silently pondering, but eventually sighed, "talk with him, then."

"I will in the morning."

The following day Avi navigated outside with the intention of going mining, but hunger was relentlessly gnawing at her, which caused her to change course and head for her tiny wheat farm instead. Harvesting two of them and re-planting the seeds she received, Avi went back in to craft some fences.

Walking into the swamp, she fell a tree to clear some space and built a small animal pen on it, complete with four torches balanced the corners.

As Avi looked for animals, sugarcane at a nearby riverbank caught her eye and she made her way towards them. When she reached the stalks, she punched them down and re-planted all 9 of the sections, laying them out adjacent to the water.

Then she saw cattle and smiled, pulling out her sheaf of wheat and waving it at them. Two began to follow, but Avi soon found out they were too clumsy to make way across the steep side of the hill. She came up with the solution to swim through the water and lead them through it, which was _not _enjoyable – the water was strangely deep, and she had to keep the wheat out of the fluid. Once she managed to reach the enclosure, Avi had to push the animals through the narrow fence gate, nearly losing one of them as she did so. Once both were in, she slammed the gate shut before they could walk back out.

They stared at her, lowing.

Avi felt slightly foolish but said, "Look, I am really sorry. I know you love peaceful lives of eating grass and, well, talking to each other, but we need food. Otherwise the Endermen are going to drive us extinct. See? It concerns the fate of humanity here, and I apologised. I…" Avi halted her rambling as she realised they were still staring at her – blankly, that is. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _What am I doing? Animals never comprehend humans or vice versa…_

As she returned for the night, she found the entrance hall empty except for Father Jerome and a teenage boy of medium build with short-cropped toffee-coloured hair and a determined air. He was dressed in a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with a darker, embroidered waistcoat over it and grey trousers, complete with the brown shoes most people wore.

"Your Majesty, meet Waylon, my son," Father Jerome introduced.

"Greetings, Waylon," Avi said, "I trust that your father has explained everything already? It goes quite against my wishes to send one of the refugees on a mission, but we have no choice."

"I am willing to do this for everyone, and also honoured to be able to serve the Queen in some way," Waylon's response was steady and composed.

Avi nodded. "Well, when do you leave? And what will you take with you?"

"As soon as possible, Your Majesty, and nothing but necessities. I still have some leftover food."

"Regardless, take these," Avi said, walking over to the chest and retrieving two pieces of steak.

Waylon protested, but Avi forced him to take the meat with the explanation that she had already penned two cows and can easily breed them. With that finished, she asked him about weapons.

"Most of us have stone swords, including me."

"A steel blade will be better, would it not?"

Waylon shook his head. "Save your iron for other uses, Your Majesty."

"Will you go on foot, then?"

He replied affirmative.

"You will be faster if you have a steed. Considering that I most likely would not need it for a while, you can have my horse."

The young man looked startled. "Thank you, Your Majesty. You are most generous."

After everything was settled, the refugees went to sleep in the unfinished dormitories. After a short conversation with Riane – who had been sitting in the corner nearly all the time – Avi did as well, snuggling into another corner of the entrance hall to avoid disturbing anyone.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed PoV to third person, Waylon's age by a year (XD) and other small stuff.**

**Update as of February 24, 2013: Combined this chapter with the original Chapter 5 (Duty) since that one was just so pathetically short. I'll **_**try**_** to write ones at least longer than 1,000 words from now on.**

**Update as of March 1, 2013: More edits…**


	6. Journeying, Day 1

**A/N: Geez…has it really been nearly twenty days since I last updated? I'm procrastinating so badly. -_-**

**Anyway, the next few chapters would be focusing on Waylon's journey, although I would add short clips of Avi's PoV. At least I'm pretty happy with the amount of description in this chapter…**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Waylon set off early the next morning towards the north after asking for a few stacks of cobblestone for making a trail. When Avi expressed her worries of Endermen tracking him, he had answered that he was a citizen of Azura, and said nothing more. He parted solemnly from his father – his mother was killed during the Endermen assault – and left.

Holding two sheaves of wheat, Avi went to visit her cattle which had bred a calf the day before. Using the wheat, she had them breed another, and turned to leave – but froze.

Halfway up another small hill, was the most massive Slime Avi had ever seen. Its back was facing her and it seemed to have not noticed her presence.

Rushing back towards the refuge, Avi concentrated on remembering her studies and deciding to use her bow and arrows which were lying at the bottom of the chest.

After retrieving them, Avi left and climbed up the hill, looking for the advantage of height. When she approached the Slime, it seemed to sense something, beginning to bounce up and down more quickly. Before it could turn my way Avi had swiftly leapt up into the branches of a tree and scrambled to the top as silently as possible, nocking an arrow. She crouched on the treetop, drawing the bow back, aiming—

_Twang!_

The arrow shot into the centre of the Slime where it stayed, quivering in place. The monster leapt up, spinning around to search for its attacker, but finding nothing. By the time Avi had already shot another arrow, followed by yet another, and then it collapsed into a heap of slime that changed into numerous medium-sized Slimes. Avi weighed the odds and then jumped onto a nearby, smaller tree with a shout, swinging at the nearest Slime. It died immediately and was replaced by another approaching one, which Avi killed again. She continued in this fashion until all of them had changed into tiny slimes, and slaughtered them with a few swipes of her sword.

Avi leapt off the tree, panting and gathering a few handfuls of slimeballs that were left behind. _Where to keep them…_

Her gaze turned onto the sand that occupied the bank of the lake, and an idea sprang into her mind. Grabbing her shovel, she dug out a few blocks and returned to smelt them.

Leaving the sand blocks to smelt in the furnace, Avi finally began to mine again, finding a large vein of coal and some iron as she descended another few levels in her second quarry.

On her way back, she went to check on her sugarcane farm, punching down all the stalks that had grown and tripling the amount of sugarcanes as she re-planted them. She rushed back at sunset, took out a dozen glass blocks, smelted 4 iron ingots and placed her 22 new pieces of coal into the chest.

After constructing two more doors to fit into the remaining doorways of the dormitories, Avi shaped some of the glass into jars and placed the slimeballs in them which filled 8 bottles. She stored them in the chest even though she could not fathom what they should be used for.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Waylon swung his pickaxe at the cobblestone blocks underneath him until he landed upon the grass before looking up to examine his work. A 10-block high cobblestone pillar topped with a torch rose above the trees around him, its grey shade prominent among the forest hues.

Delighted by the accomplishment, Waylon hurried to the chestnut-coloured horse standing nearby, swinging himself into the saddle. Tugging on the reins, he directed the stallion towards the north and made his way through the dense forest. Occasionally he looked back to see if his pillar was still visible, although by the time he deemed it necessary to build another, something else had came into his view that made him stare, slowing his horse in surprise.

He had arrived at the edge of the forest, which curved along with the sandy bank of a lake – a large but shallow oval-shaped pool of water that extended out of sight to the east. But what stunned him were the towering trees on the other side, enormous and lush green with vines dangling down from the leaves and covering their thick trunks – a jungle even denser than the forest he had just came out of.

Waylon wished he had someone to talk to so that he could express his amazement. He caught sounds from the animals living in the jungle – mostly chirrups from different kinds of birds – and that, combined with the way the magnificent trees were bathed in the midday sunshine, created a scene of lively tropical beauty that he had never seen before.

A moment later, he shook himself, irritated, and pulled his mind away from his admiration to think. _A jungle is definitely not the best place to find sheep, _he decided, looking to the west and east as he tried to conclude which direction to turn to. Eventually he decided on the east and hurried along the lake while keeping to the edge of the forest, urging the stallion into a canter.

Then, for the second time that day, he slowed in shock as the trees parted to reveal a ravine by his side, and stopped completely when he noticed through the foliage of a thicket yet another one, parallel to the first.

For a moment he gazed at the two adjacent rips in the land with wonder, barely refraining from slapping himself as he realised what he was doing. With a swift decision that he will inform the Queen as soon as he can, he began riding forward again, aware of the passing time.

On the other side of the lake, the jungle followed him until its eastern end, where it turned north while Waylon continued eastward. In the late afternoon he stopped by the edge of a wide, winding river that opened up into an enormous lake to the east via an opening in a streak of land separating the lake from the river, and which curved along it.

Standing at the place where normal and jungle trees met, Waylon built another pillar before considering where he will pass the night, and smiling as he looked up at two nearby jungle trees grown close together that nearly joined each other on the top, one taller than the other. After tethering his steed to an oak and retrieving his axe from the saddlebags, Waylon climbed up the vines hanging down the trunks of the lower jungle tree until he was in the shade the leaves above created. With one hand clinging onto the vines, he shifted the position of a few of the blocks, letting the dying sunlight flood in. With difficulty he used his axe to remove two blocks from the tree trunk, piled them up beside him in a staircase fashion and clambered to the treetop, taking a moment to survey his surroundings and seeing an island in the middle of the lake to the east.

Then he climbed further up to the higher tree, foliage crunching under his feet. He sat facing the sunset as shadows enveloped the land, and laid himself down when the glimmer of stars appeared in the night sky above, unbuckling his sword and placing the weapon beside him. His eyelids drifted shut even as the hostile mobs began to emerge from their shelters far below.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed Avi's PoV to third person. Waylon's PoV remains untouched.**

**Update as of March 1, 2013: Small edits, mainly in Waylon's PoV.**


	7. Journeying, Day 2

**A/N: Well…we finally have another chapter! I wrote the first section ages ago (it has been edited, of course), but got very confused over the capitalisation of mob names. Thankfully Minecraft Wiki solved the problem: **_**"Species of mobs that are fictional and only exist within the Minecraft world such as Creeper should be capitalized. Any other instance of a mob should be treated normally."**_** (See Projects/Style Guide)**

**In any case, I hope you enjoy the chapter. XD**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Avi eagerly unlocked the gates and walked out to bathe in the golden light of dawn, and was just closing the outmost gate behind her when something knocked her off her feet.

It was a massive black spider with a copious amount of flashing red eyes, leaping at Avi while snapping its pincers. She stumbled backwards, drawing and raising her sword as quickly as she could to block its attack, walking backwards and slamming into the outer wall of the antechamber that held both gates—

_The gate._

Her mind suddenly went blank with shock. Seizing the moment, the spider closed its fangs around Avi's shoulder and she yelped in pain, slashing at it and causing it to hiss and jump backwards. Even as it did Avi was scrambling towards the entrance to close—

The spider leapt at her again. With a curse she spun around, her back throbbing, and dispatched the monster with a few quick stabs.

And then two more came scurrying out of nowhere and began a vicious assault. Shouting, Avi sacrificed the time for a counter-attack for closing the gate, and then concentrated on hitting one of the spiders as the other pounced at her relentlessly, drawing blood with each bite.

"Your Majesty!" There was an alarmed cry from inside the antechamber, and Avi heard latches being lifted. She cursed again and turned towards the opening gate for a brief second, screaming "Don't open that, you fools!" as she slashed at one of the spiders.

She was not sure if whoever was inside would obey, but the remaining monster had wounded her a few more times before she managed to turn to it, glaring, but then paused as she realised the spider was faltering in its attacks.

Then she noticed the rays of sunlight beaming on its back and did not hesitate to take advantage of it. Several stabs later, she was panting, holding several pieces of string and a glob of spider eye in her hands.

She stumbled back into the refuge, shoving a loaf of bread into her mouth. The bleeding of her wounds stopped as she raced up the stairs to jam a key into the iron door of the new storage room on the second floor, crafted a small glass jar which she put the spider eye into, and threw the rest into the chest for mob drops.

She was still trembling slightly when she walked down the stairs to the entrance hall, which was being filled with a stream of refugees as the news spread.

"Your Majesty, is everything fine?"

"Yes, it is," Avi replied, controlling her voice and demeanour so that she appeared calmer. After responding to some more questions, she managed to escape from the cramped room before Riane could hear of her fight. She knew he would be displeased by it.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Waylon woke at sunrise.

The air was still but chilly, and all around him was silence. He remained sitting on the tree for a while, waiting for the blushing eastern sky to fade into its usual blue before sliding down the vines around the trunk of the tree.

He swept his gaze around the area in an attempt to detect hostile mobs. Finding none, he rushed at his horse. As he stuffed his axe into its usual place in the saddlebags, he noticed the mess inside and sighed.

Within moments the bags were empty, all the items placed on the ground. Waylon began to arrange his possessions, but just as he bent down, he felt something whoosh over him.

Without thinking, he dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, scrambling up a few seconds later only to gape and cover his ears as the stallion reared and screamed, hooves flailing, the shaft of an arrow protruding from one of its fetlocks.

Waylon sprang up, his sword ready, and ran at where he guessed the missile came from – the lake. The attacker soon came into view: a skeleton in the water, already loosing another arrow. Waylon sidestepped and then leapt into the water, diving underneath it as soon as the liquid was deep enough. He slashed furiously at the skeleton's legs once, twice, then burst out of the water and severed the Undead creature's skull.

It thrashed, one bony arm slamming into Waylon's side with full force, and then dissolved into a pile of dust sinking into the water along with a single bone.

Waylon grabbed the bone and dragged himself out of the water, spluttering. He winced as he felt his side – it was going to leave one nasty bruise and he could not spare any food to heal a minor wound.

He then turned towards where he had deposited his belongings. The horse was gone. Cursing the skeleton and himself for not looking around properly, he scooped up the pile, placing the blocks and items into his various pockets and tying the tools to his belt.

By noon he had crossed the lake and reluctantly entered a swamp after inspecting the area. _At least this biome borders a jungle, which solves the problem of finding a shelter._ He reasoned.

After locating numerous mushrooms of both kinds, he also decided to pick some of them to make mushroom stew once he returned. He gathered a bunch, and was bending down for a few more grown around the base of a low tree when the silence around him was broken by a soft hiss and the sound of ignition.

He spun around, but was too late.

A _boom_ resounded in his ears, jarring his teeth with its deafening volume. At the same time, excruciating pain erupted in his body, tearing through flesh like bands of heated iron. He screamed – and the world around him went black.

Awareness returned to him some time later.

He saw through a haze of pain the jagged sides of the crater he was lying in. Once a small amount of energy began to course through his limbs again, he groped for the steak the Queen had given him and nibbled on the meat, causing the agony of his wounds to subside to dull throbbing, then staggered upright and out of the crater, cursing Creepers with exasperation, albeit he was surprised he even survived the attack – it was well-known that Creeper explosions were generally lethal.

The rest of the day was spent tensely; Waylon thought he saw monsters in every shadow, and his fear was not helped by the amount of cave entrances dotting the ground. In late afternoon he rushed up a hill and climbed up the first jungle tree he saw, collapsing on the treetop once he reached it. Through half-lidded eyes he saw cube-shaped entities hopping about in the darkened swamp below, and resolved to cross the jungle the next day. He had no time to wait for hordes of Slimes to despawn.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

**Update as of February 15, 2013: Changed Avi's PoV to third person and edited some other stuff – I'm quite ashamed by how much I had to change. Darn it, loopholes.**

**Update as of March 1, 2013: Minor edits.**

**Update as of May 6, 2013: Edited bits about the Creeper attack.**

**Update as of May 17, 2013: Changed description about healing.**


	8. Journeying, Days 3 & 4

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the late update; I was busy with studies and other…stuff and was procrastinating and just…bleh. ANYWAY, one thing of note is that I've changed Avi's PoV to third person – yes, both in this chapter and the previous eight.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Navigating through the dense undergrowth of the jungle, Waylon concentrated on maintaining his footing on the leafy ground he was walking on. Consequently, he was keeping his eyes focused downward until the bushes underneath his feet suddenly metamorphosed into snow and an icy gust buffeted him.

He looked up and was almost blinded by a flat expanse of white spread out before him, edged on one side by the jungle and stretching into the distance on the other. Squinting, he saw that the tundra was bare aside from the occasional tree and iced-over pool, and more prominently, a large snow-capped mountain that loomed like a misshapen dome not far ahead. By the time he acknowledged those features, his very bones felt chilled - he flinched, a tardy reaction, and retreated back a few steps. Within the span of a second he was engulfed by the thick, humid atmosphere of the jungle once more; the drastic alteration in temperature disconcerted him.

Unaccustomed to cold climates as he was, though, Waylon was tired of the sprawling mass of colossal trees that lay behind him, not to mention the non-existent possibility of finding his goal among them. He was aware, however, that he would more likely freeze to death on the ice plains than find a herd of sheep.

With a quick flick of his gaze up at the clear sky, he estimated the time; it was a little after midday. _Not much time left,_ he thought grimly, _but too much time to waste by camping by the edge of this jungle._ With no desire to tarry, Waylon hurriedly searched for a means to preserve his body heat. Lacking a better idea, he tore off the thickest set of vines he could find on nearby trees and wrapped it around himself. He grimaced, glad that nothing other than a group of snorting pigs and clucking, fluttering chickens could witness him. Yet, the plants did have the effect he wanted, producing a stifling sensation in his torso almost instantaneously.

He examined his supplies with a sigh. _These will last another day, perhaps two. But if I fail to find any sheep by the time they are depleted, I would be in a quagmire…and stating bare facts does not exactly help._ Inhaling slowly, he tried to regain a measure of will and positivity before walking forward and into the tundra.

Needless to say, the day was tedious more than all else; every minute seemed near-identical to Waylon as he trudged through the snow, leaving a lone set of footprints in his wake. His only companion was the exasperating, erratic wintry wind that caused him to be struck by pangs of loneliness.

_I will complete this mission, regardless of the cost,_ he resolved. Perhaps that was what drove him forward; perhaps that was what kept him from excessive despair when he crossed the frosty plains only to find a seemingly endless forest of snow-coated pine trees on the other side – and it was there where he made 'shelter': racing ahead of the setting sun, he climbed up a short pine by the edge of the taiga and from there, leapt to a higher treetop. Once he found relatively secure footing, Waylon began to rise himself some more by pillaring, using all of his remaining twenty-some cobblestone blocks. He did not fear monsters noticing the unnatural tower rising into the sky – none could hope to reach him during the night, and he was confident he could evade enemies after sunrise even if they gathered.

Shortly after the stars began twinkling faintly in the heavens, they were obscured by a mass of condensation. Then, much to Waylon's frustration, it began to snow.

Beating the flakes off his queer attire, he mined out some of the cobblestone underneath him until he had retrieved eight blocks. Moving swiftly, he crouched by the edge of his pillar and enlarged the top until he was standing on a 3x3 wooden platform, then pulled out his crafting table and made a furnace, shoving the jungle wood planks he had gathered before into its depths. As flames surged to life, he scrambled to shield as much of his body as possible from the snow by creating a wall and ceiling around him, leaving an opening in the east to be able to notice the sunrise.

Heat suffused the tiny shelter, and Waylon breathed a sigh of relief, muttering about discomfort in cold biomes. Still in a standing position, he sank into a fitful sleep.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

A sudden clap of thunder jolted Avi out of her sleep, as did all the refugees. There were exclamations, shushing, and fearful muttering as zombies were heard nearby.

Avi looked out of the window to see a sunrise obscured by sheets of rain blown slanted by the wind; dark thunderclouds gathered in the sky above and lightning struck once in a while.

"Your Majesty," Riane stood and said as Avi walked down the stairs. "You are not going to exit this place, are you?"

"I…I am uncertain," Avi replied, "we need—"

Riane scowled as another thunderclap seemed to resonate through the refuge. "We are _always_ in need of resources, Your Majesty. But I am _not_ having you risk your life out there."

"I spent days of raining mining outside, do you not remember?"

"Pah!" Riane waved a hand, his expression still locked onto his face. "Chance, and nothing more! You should not have went out at all during rainy days—"

"Then we will be severely short of supplies considering the amount of rain these days," Avi argued.

"Regardless. This is a _storm_, Your Majesty. You are _not_ leaving until it abates."

"Are you certain who you are commanding?"

Riane glared. "It is for the good of your people. If we have such a desperate need for resources, send someone else – anyone else."

Avi sighed and folded her arms, not bothering to say anything more as she was sure Riane would know her argument. Instead, she tried another method to reinforce it. "Fine. I am staying put. And I will _not_ be sending some else…unless they are willing to put themselves in danger for us."

Avi looked around at the people who had gathered around them during their heated conversation. "Anyone?"

More muttering, and soon a cloud of silence settled over everyone, broken only by the occasional booming thunder.

Avi turned her gaze back to Riane. The situation was self-explanatory.

The Mage scowled again and began to speak, crossing his arms just like Avi did, but she cut him off. "Enough. I am weary of this. You have made your point, that I am sure. Is that not what you wanted to do?"

Riane whirled around and into one of the rooms, slamming doors behind him.

Avi frowned. She had never known he could have such temper – he had always been silent and aloof as far as Avi could remember.

Father Jerome, on the right, also started to say something but Avi forestalled him. "No need, Father Jerome. I know your argument. No one is to leave the boundaries of this shelter until the storm ends."

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Waylon stalked through the trees with his sword held upright, every muscle in his body stretched taut. Then he saw his prey, a large eight-legged shadow facing the other side underneath a pine.

He stabbed, leapt back as a pained hiss came from the spider and it turned, then flitted behind a tree and lunged as the spider leapt past. The fight was over within seconds, with no trace of it remaining aside from the torn-up snow. Waylon scanned the ground, disappointed; he had hoped to gather some string.

He sheathed his sword and resumed his trip, walking on where the tundra and taiga joined, not even bothering to keep track of the direction anymore.

Not long after, he abruptly stopped as both elation and disbelief rushed through him, for he had heard _bleating_.


	9. Mishap

**A/N: I have three things to say. Firstly, to those who don't know yet: the prologue has been through edits in writing. Secondly, well…I'm kind of satisfied with this chapter's length. XD Thirdly, I've edited the cover slightly just for the sake of it. I might change it back when this **_**really**_** turns into a saga.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

It was a fairly pleasant day in the beginning, the sky being free of clouds the first time in many days. The peace, though, barely lasted the morning – Avi was hoeing her wheat farm when the sound of an explosion blasted through her ears.

Avi dropped the hoe and ran towards the origin of the sound, the other side of the refuge, yanking her sword out of its scabbard as she did so. The weapon in her hand seemed to suddenly weigh much more than previously as she beheld a crater on the side of the hill that bordered the lake – and the prone form of a woman by its margin, a few large wooden bowls fallen from her grasp. Avi recognised one of the refugees by her stained smock and splayed sunset-coloured hair, and stared with disbelief; she recalled perfectly well having issued the order that no refugees were to leave the shelter without her permission. Time did not allow her thoughts to whirl much longer, however: the victim of the Creeper explosion was stirring.

Avi sheathed her sword, took a bowl and hurried to the lake, returning to the woman's side in a moment, gently turning her over and dousing her face with water, causing her hazel eyes to flutter open. Shock flashed through them when she recognised Avi, who spoke first.

"Remain still, please. Are you healing?"

There was a pause. Then the woman shook her head with a faint motion, the astonishment on her face replaced by pain. At this mute response Avi hurried to give her a loaf of bread, and it was a while before the woman could speak after her wounds closed over and she was helped into a sitting position. "Corina, Your Majesty," she replied faintly when Avi asked for her name.

"Why have you not followed my command?"

A pink hue crept into Corina's cheeks. "We…we could not find the appropriate time to ask you, Your Majesty. And we needed…" she trailed off, gesturing at the lake.

Avi's heart sank. "Have you been doing this ever since you arrived?" she asked with the faintest tremor in her voice.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty…we needed more than provisions to survive."

Avi stared, dumbstruck; her mind went blank. Then she mentally detonated in a storm self-contempt and she, too, looked elsewhere, too ashamed of herself to meet Corina's eyes. _Why was I so blind to nought but my own desires?_ She berated herself, feeling heat flooding her own face. For an indefinite period of time, no words passed between the two of them.

Eventually Avi murmured, "My apologies," and offered to accompany Corina back to the refuge. The woman nodded and filled the bowls with water before returning, Avi in her wake, still disturbed.

People were massed in the entrance hall, clearing to the sides with a single call on Avi's part. The buzz of anxious conversation was immediately silenced when the two of them stopped by the stairs. Corina ducked her head, as though embarrassed to be in the centre of the attention, and joined the refugees, distributing the water while people plied her with questions. Avi caught something about the woman hearing the Creeper's footsteps but was too slow to escape the blast entirely, which was the reason she was not gravely injured.

Then someone pushed through the crowd and burst into view, aggravating Avi's concealed agitation: It was a hard-faced Riane, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.

"May I please inquire _why_ this occurred?" He asked coldly, his eyes fixed on Avi, who met his gaze with as much determination as she could, aware of the silenced crowd around them.

"What do you mean?" Avi asked. "It was an accident."

Opprobrium was detectable in the answer's tone. "Indeed, but what caused it? In my opinion it is solely due to how you neglected your duties, _Your Majesty._" The last two words coming from the Mage seemed to be forced. "If only you were less occupied by all the activities you deemed good for your people and ignored other necessities, this could have been avoided! Only sheer luck had saved us from a fatal incident. Do _not_ forget that the lives here rely entirely upon your decisions. One blunder can doom us all, and that I will not sanction!"

The last word resonated in Avi's thoughts as she tried to form a reply. No words came. All of a sudden it dawned on Avi that everyone present was older than her by at least ten years, and yet _she_ was the one who ruled over them. Disconcerted, she lowered her eyes and said quietly, "I understand your concern, Riane."

Then she focused on the people surrounding her. With an effort, she announced: "I apologise for all that has occurred. From now on, do express your opinions regardless of the circumstances. Always let yourself be heard, for your thoughts might benefit us greatly." Her eyes came to rest on those of Father Jerome, who nodded solemnly.

When no one else moved, Avi looked at Riane's now-impassive face again before spinning around and, with barely-controlled motions, walking through the dormitories, breaking into a run once she was out of sight and halting only when she reached the incomplete location of the second ground-level expansion of the shelter. She fumbled for cobblestone and, withdrawing a stack, began to create the ceiling almost frantically, trying to channel all of her worries and doubts into movement. The air seemed stifling, and she felt loneliness the likes of which she had experienced only once in her life: the day after her mother's death. Afterward, she had been entangled in a series of endless duties, but although she was completing them even then, her emotions roiled freely and she was clueless as to how to subdue them. Thoughts reigned, too; the responsibility on her shoulders suddenly seemed to be crushing. _Who am I but a regular girl undeveloped in terms of thinking and abilities?_ She wondered. _Just why did this have to fall to me? She told me to keep hold of my position, but why was the reason hidden from me?_

Just when all became excruciating, her brooding was interrupted by the pattering of footsteps. The butcher, whose name Avi either could not remember or did not know in the first place, came into view. With a swift bow, he declared, "Your Majesty, Waylon Jeromesson has returned!"

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Leading a group of boisterous animals – six sheep, three white and three black, with a few chickens mixed in – over the hill, Waylon laboriously threaded through the maze of trees, on the verge of collapsing. When the refuge came to view, he stumbled to a stop, amazed.

He _had_ expected that after his nine days of travel the shelter would have been expanded, but seeing it with his own eyes still astounded him, for the structure before him had doubled in both height and size, the now-outermost ring of the bottom level still incomplete. On the second floor and above the antechamber of the entrance, there appeared to be a small room with one side of the wall dotted by glass panes in a checkerboard pattern, most likely in an attempt to ward off Enderman break-ins while offering people with as complete a view as possible. The cow pen in the eastern swamp had also been enlarged and contained far more lowing creatures than before. On the western side, Waylon could just discern a longish sandy island framed by sugarcanes, its surface so flat it was apparent it had been worked on.

Still holding onto his creature-luring sheaf of wheat attached to several of the sheep by a few durable vines, Waylon began to descend with half an eye on the refuge, stepping down slowly to allow the chickens to keep up. He soon spotted movement behind the windows on the second floor – a person waving at him, obviously not Queen Skye's judging by the size of the silhouette. He returned the gesture.

A minute or so after he arrived at the gate with the animals clamouring at his heels, clicking came from inside and the iron door was thrown open, revealing the Queen with somewhat unkempt thick black curls, a mixture of delight and incredulity on her face as she beheld Waylon, who knew the source of her surprise: from what he could tell, his hair was matted, his face haggard, his clothes frayed, and he appeared utterly fatigued in general. Thus what the Queen exclaimed was expected:

"Waylon! What in the name of Notch drove you to exhaust yourself so?"

"Every person has their duties and missions, Your Majesty," Waylon answered, his unused voice a rasp, "and I am of course willing to deprive myself of my own comfort to ensure others receive theirs. Surely you comprehend that."

The Queen nodded and gave a slight smile. "Well then, allow me to congratulate you on the success of your quest. Your train of followers is most impressive."

Waylon also found himself grinning. "Thank you, Your Majesty. And I brought back more than those." Then, much to the Queen's obvious wonder, he produced handfuls of mushrooms, pumpkins and coal. "I thought sources of food other than bread will be welcome, Your Majesty, and fuel is rarely useless," he said by way of explanation.

The Queen's face brightened. "You have my deepest thanks, Waylon; you have done more than I dared hope." She rhapsodised further, and then hurried to pen the animals while Waylon remained where he was, still clinging onto the wheat as relief washed over him at having returned to as close a home as he could have in these dark days.


	10. Seeds

**A/N: Seems like I'll be doing this for every chapter from now on: I sincerely apologise for the terribly slow updates. I just kind of, erm, got busy and stuff…**

**But I **_**have**_** to thank Mellifluousness (I should really count how many times I do that throughout this fanfic) for the title; it even has a double meaning. I would be so stuck without her. XD**

**Anyway, uh…enjoy, if it's possible to enjoy this chapter. ._.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

The morning after, Waylon sat on a block of wooden planks opposite Queen Skye, likewise seated on a makeshift stool, in one of the empty rooms of the bare dormitories. He tried to not display his weariness, but was not quite successful.

"Have you rallied, Waylon?"

"Somewhat," he replied, still puzzled as to the reason for their subdued conversation.

"Well," the Queen began slowly and perhaps, Waylon thought, cautiously, "I do not mean to disregard my gratitude for your recent venture nor your level of endurance, yet—"

Unbidden words rolled from Waylon's tongue. "—you have another quest for me, Your Majesty?"

There was a pause. "Not precisely," was the answer, immediately clarified: "as much as I am unwilling to address the subject, this…project for shelter construction requires more than one person to complete on time."

"And what exactly do you wish me to do, Your Majesty?"

The Queen swiftly listed: "Three kinds of animals to bred, proper sugarcane, wheat and mayhap even pumpkin farms to establish, and construction materials to extract from quarries along with necessary ores, all to be done with all possible speed. Farms for renewable resources _have_ to be the utmost priority for many reasons apparent and obscure, which I think I shall do with my own hands. It appears you will be of most use in the quarries. Do you accept this role?"

Waylon nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty. When will I begin?"

"As soon as a modicum of strength returns to you; you will judge that by yourself. The orders—" here she produced and handed over a sheet of folded paper "—are inscribed on that. I have given the necessary materials to your father."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Waylon unfolded the message and skimmed the following words:

_Leave the shelter an hour after sunrise. Father Jerome will supply, when asked for, 5-7 blocks of wood (for crafting tool handles, ladders, etc.) and enough food to replenish the strength one might lose in a day._

_The quarries are over the hill in the north, dug alongside the ravine you should have seen. Attempt to reach bedrock; if you encounter a cave or similar, leave the quarry and create another nearby. Feel free to modify the staircase._

_If orders were given beforehand to work in the farms, return to the shelter an hour before sunset; if not, return at sunset._

Waylon refolded the orders as the Queen asked: "Do you have any questions?"

"No, but there _is_ something I wish to inform you of, Your Majesty." he answered, remembering. "During the first day of my journey I came across two parallel ravines. They are not very far from here."

The Queen raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, you may ask for permission to extricate ores from those ravines on a day we are not so pressed for resources. Is there anything else I should know of?"

"Not currently, Your Majesty." Something about the Queen's sober face suddenly amused Waylon, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from grinning.

As soon as the Queen was out of earshot after he was dismissed, Waylon leaned against the wall and chuckled at the absurdity of the situation a moment ago. He couldn't help but remember the Queen's age, a figure oddly detached from her formal demeanour; he wondered how _she_ felt about it as well.

Then he returned to his father, trying to banish the rest of his fatigue from his bones.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

The first thing Avi heard when she stepped out of the shelter was an unnaturally loud gurgling combined with an underlying rasp. The noise seemed to be familiar, but she couldn't place it.

She looked up and straight into the rectangular, lilac-coloured eyes of an Enderman.

The monster stood on top of the hill facing the front door of the refuge, trembling along its length with its jaw dropped. A horrendous, threatening growl built in Avi's ears, transfixing her, instilling pure _fear_ in her mind until she nearly dropped the sword she had been holding ready. The Enderman's growl rose to an ear-splitting screech as it took a step towards Avi, then another – and paused.

Then it vanished in a cloud of purple particles, its noise receding.

After what felt like an eternity, Avi stirred. There was nothing else hostile in sight as she hurried to her quarries, still shaken.

When Avi returned at sunset with a handful of raw beef, cobblestone and sugar cane, she sought out Riane and informed him of the encounter with the Enderman.

The Mage frowned. "We can only hope that Enderman is a loner and not part of an army and that its teleportation was due to its unfamiliarity of sunlight instead of the need to report to a leader."

Avi nodded. "And the spell?"

"In fine condition. What of your duties, Your Majesty?"

Minutes later, Avi rushed into the storage room, flushed by the conversation with the Mage. She fervently wished her plans would go smoothly – otherwise it signalled the downfall of humans.

She spent a restless night by the burning furnace, rising before dawn to craft a leather tunic from the leather she had gathered, ignoring the zombies' snarling that had been heard nightly.

The hour after dawn was spent slaying Slimes, a zombie and a skeleton that managed to replenish Avi's stock of arrows. Afterward, she hurried back inside to retrieve her stacks of cobblestone. Her idea was to build a compact wheat farm about as large as her quarries; she lacked the time for anything more secure or functional.

After a few miscalculations, complications and adjustments, Avi managed to create a two-block-high cobblestone wall, lay down a layer of dirt inside and place torches on the walls before the western sky changed colour. She returned to the shelter in time to hear a loud clattering of doors as the refugees went into their separate rooms at sunset. With thoughts and emotions alike pressing down upon her, she trudged into the storage room as usual, finding the amount of seeds she possessed satisfactory.

_These will be sowed tomorrow – no more delays. With luck, we will survive._


	11. Beginnings

**A/N: Late, I know. And don't expect this to change. THIS IS IMPORTANT: This story is going to enter a **_**very**_** tedious stage after this, so I've decided to save you readers from getting bored to death altogether – which means the next chapter will take an eternity to come out because what I've written, I've played through in my Minecraft world. And my schedule's really tight. 'Kay?**

**Also, linebreaks are now original.**

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

It was pouring again, fat raindrops stirring up the wide river's surface. Underneath it, Avi shovelled away the side of a dirt mound to make room for the current that flowed through an underwater cobblestone hut – the recently-built water source room utilising flowing freshwater.

She eventually shot out of the river, gasping for air as the downpour crashed down upon her, and clambered to an area where the water was only one block deep for some rest. Just as she prepared to dive in again, though, she heard a Creeper explosion and started. _Waylon?_ She thought, but the amount of shouts that reached her ears confirmed the presence of multiple people.

Avi clenched her teeth and swam towards the commotion, cursing her speed. Using a lily pad as a kind of springboard, she leapt and landed a few blocks away from her sword on the riverbank. Snatching up and unsheathing it, she sprinted towards the small group that was fending off monsters, nearly falling into a crater as she approached them.

There were a handful of men in leather armour, using stone swords and bows to ward off blows from zombies and spiders. Women and two children struggled to dodge arrows from skeletons on the roof of the refuge. "Go in, now!" Avi cried, knowing that the refugees inside had already heard. Without waiting for their reactions she bounded up the hill the shelter's entrance faced, swerving to dodge any possible projectiles. She then sought cover behind trees, grabbing her bow in the meantime, and began firing with all the arrows she possessed, namely half a dozen; only one skeleton remained afterward, and by then the last person had already vanished inside the shelter.

Avi then dashed inside herself, narrowly avoiding getting shot along the way.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

The new refugees were swiftly introduced and settled. They were of lower and middle class from a town close to the city Avi was residing in prior to the Endermen attack, some of them broken families – a few were women along with two girls, both of them younger than Avi; the group brought the number of the shelter's residents up to nineteen.

Two days after, the inner circle of dormitories was taken down, leaving the entrance hall about three times larger than it once was, while the outer ring of the refuge had been separated into small rooms with numbers assigned to them by signs. The wool Waylon was bringing in gave everyone immense comfort in the form of bedding, and Avi even received a pleasant surprise afterward:

She happened to be in the storage room near midday, fetching cobblestone for the expansion of the second floor, when Waylon burst in, looking as if he had ran all the way back.

"Waylon—?"

"I require an iron pickaxe," he gasped, his face radiant.

"For redstone?"

Waylon shook his head and doubled over, panting. It only took Avi a moment to realise what he found and snatch up a few iron ingots and sticks from chests.

"How could I be so _ignorant_." She muttered while putting the pickaxe together. After passing the tool to Waylon, she cautioned: "Come _straight_ back, and do_ not_, for Notch's sake, act rashly!"

Four gleaming diamonds and an enormous pile of redstone dust found themselves in the storage room soon after.

A day later, as the sun was nearing its zenith, Avi found Waylon climbing up the hill as she exited the refuge.

"What are you doing here?" The two of them exclaimed simultaneously after they noticed each other.

"I wanted to join you at the quarry, for the cobblestone supply has been depleted," Avi replied, "but what of you?"

"The farms." Waylon said as they ascended the hill. "They have been rapidly expanding and it generally takes half a day to complete my work in them."

"You should have informed me earlier." Avi's voice was quiet but only slightly reproachful. "I will send someone else on the morrow."

"But—"

"I have no choice until the shelter becomes self-sufficient, and that will take time…"

Only a few necessary phrases were exchanged between the two afterward while they worked alongside each other.

That evening it rained, the weather unchanging at sunrise. Avi was looking out at the darkened sky with concern when distant clamour and the clanging of metal were heard again.

Avi hurried down the stairs to receive five or so near-identical men – namely they possessed similar leather armour, stone weapons, grim expressions, wounds and similarly mud-splattered limbs. For a while they had to heave for air. Then a heavily bearded one with a large build, seemingly slightly older than the others, took a step forward.

"A – dozen – _Netherwalking_ – zombies – outside," he growled, "and no messenger ever informed us of the monsters assisting those blasted Endermen. Have you—" Here he stopped with his mouth agape, scrutinising Avi. "This cannot be…?"

"Indeed," Avi answered, trying to gather some poise. "Who else did you expect?" She regretted the words once they left her mouth. It was obvious the man was expecting: A strong, unwavering woman with an air of reliability, not a frail girl with a height of a block and five tenths who looked more like the Queen's young daughter than the Queen herself who was the only hope of all humans in the Overworld.

"My apologies, Your Majesty," the man muttered.

The new refugees were from Branstone, a small town a day's walk from Azura. They assumed they were the only survivors. Keaton, the man leading them, also informed Avi that once they received the news of a possible shelter from the Endermen, they had sent out a hoard of messenger bats so that the knowledge might spread further.

"Bats?" Avi asked.

"Bats, Your Majesty." Keaton replied with a gruff voice. "Our research is centred on those nocturnal creatures as much as Azura's research is centred on water."

"Ah." Pondering about the importance of the information, Avi gave the new residents rooms and food, and then returned to the second floor, where she began to construct a spiral staircase with Waylon's help. Deep in her thoughts, she failed to notice the other observing her, and jerked with surprise when Waylon asked, "What is it, Your Majesty?"

"I…" she faltered, then forged ahead. "I have the feeling this is another beginning – a somewhat negative one. With word of this sanctuary spreading, we will be once more pressed for resources even as we save countless lives." She chipped methodically at a cobblestone slab. "There will be no more silence, space and privacy. No more abundance…and I have no inkling of how long this state will last."

"Whatever mistakes you have made so far were within the excusable range, Your Majesty," Waylon reminded. "We _can_ start anew, as planned, here, with you being our rightful leader. You still have our loyalty and trust."

A short, bitter laugh issued from Avi, causing Waylon to turn towards her in surprise.

"That is exactly what I am concerned about," she sighed. "I have long known the fragility of trust. Hard to earn and easy to break, they say…"

After a moment of silence, a sudden notion caused her hand to tighten around her pickaxe handle. "And when new refugees continuously arrive…the Endermen will be sure to follow."


	12. Interrogation

**A/N: HarryPotterEncyclopedia24 has kindly allowed me to make a big reference to her awesome fanfiction series The Minecraft Chronicles in this chapter, of which she was also the beta reader of. Thanks, HPE! :D**

**And just saying: You don't have to have read TMC in order to understand this. XD It doesn't contain any major spoilers, either.**

_**The characters 'the Skeleton General', 'the Zombie', and the terms 'User', 'Terrarian', '**__**Infernosian' and 'Astrian' are rightfully owned by HarryPotterEncyclopedia24.**_

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

The Skeleton General leaned against a wooden pillar in one of the abandoned mineshaft's countless passage junctions, tapping the column with impatience. _What are those fools _doing_? Hopefully they did not meet the same end as the Zombie's pathetic underlings._

His eye sockets turned towards a cobweb on the ceiling as he waited.

Cave spiders screeched in the distance.

_Finally!_ He straightened as he noticed his minions' approach. A small group of skeletons soon filed into torchlight, all of them carrying loads – mainly common weapons and armour, though a pair of the battered-looking creatures was also hauling a corpse with them.

"What took you so long?" The Skeleton General demanded. "And what caused your numbers to diminish so?"

"Apologies, my lord!" One of the skeletons chattered anxiously. "Half of us didn't survive the sun, and we lost our way underground. But we have what you wanted." He added hurriedly.

The Skeleton General clicked his jaw with irritation. "Well? Put these down and move aside!"

The skeletons scrambled to pile their looted implements into an adequately organised heap, dropping the body in front of it before retreating further down the passage. Their leader sifted through the mound of items, then knelt down and examined the dead man meticulously – a ragged form with a thatch of brown hair and a straggly beard, killed by an arrow to the heart.

_Not quite a __Terrarian, _he concluded,_ and far from an Infernosian or an Astrian, yet…_

He stood. "What do the local monsters know of these entities?"

"Little, my lord. This area had been deserted until two of these beings arrived about a month ago and created the shelter and quarries you know of. The recently arriving groups never seem to exit the shelter. Are they…Users, my lord?"

"They do not appear to be. I wish to find out more about them, however." He thought for a moment, then commanded: "Back to your posts, all of you; reinforcements will arrive. You know what to do, but be less reckless this time!"

"Yes, my lord!"

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

"Another group butchered outside today, Your Majesty. Evidently skeletons' work again."

"That…that cannot be," Avi gasped, aghast. "Perhaps they are indeed co-operating with the Endermen? But why…" She shook her head, sighing; something nagged at her. "We will discuss this later. Just be more cautious outside, will you?"

Waylon nodded. "You need not be concerned, Your Majesty, but I thank you."

He was then dismissed and Avi ascended the widened staircase, entered the storage room briefly for cobblestone, and then spiralled up to the empty third floor where a few refugees loitered. She greeted them wearily and climbed a ladder to the roof, blocking the opening securely with cobblestone to avoid weakening Riane's spell. After that, she set to work, creating a frame for the to-be-expanded gate room.

It was late afternoon when it happened.

She was standing a block from the northern edge of the rooftop, constructing a low border, when an arrow suddenly landed before her, as though the attacker had aimed at her feet but missed by an inch.

Avi's head shot up as she tried to pinpoint the archer, dropping her cobblestone blocks. It came from the north-east, the rough location of the animal pens – and then she saw a lone, humanoid figure crouched upon a treetop on a low hill.

Another arrow joined the first, but from a slightly different direction. When Avi leapt backwards with surprise and looked up again, there was a second silhouette on another tree.

One more arrow, this time from behind her.

Projectiles began flying at her successively, leaving Avi in such a hurry to dodge she couldn't get a better look at the countless forms emerging from all directions. For some reason, they didn't seem to be aiming for _her_, but instead around her.

Yet another one flew in an arc over her head. Then there was a pause.

Avi looked towards the highest hill in the area, the one right in front of the refuge on which the majority of her attackers seemed to have gathered, and her breath caught. The beings were cloaked from head to toe with armour, most of them leather, although a few had pieces of gold and iron. Their faces were concealed by hoods, but what chilled Avi was the clanking of bones beneath the armour: They were _skeletons_.

And everywhere she looked, bows were trained on her.

She slowly turned back towards the hill, to the only one whose weapon wasn't strung. It took her a second to deduce that it was the leader, for the monster was nearly twice the size of the other skeletons, equipped solely with a polished iron helmet and his bow and quiver; his bare limbs exhibited a profound lack of colour, as if the sun had bleached the bones instead of igniting them.

Then he spoke. How he managed to produce human sounds was beyond Avi, but the creaky tones intermingled with skeletal clicking sent chills down her spine.

"You are the leader of your race in this area, correct?"

"That I am…are you allies with the Endermen?"

A low rattling broke out from among the monsters, travelling from those on the hill all the way to the swamp behind Avi, where numerous beings of their ilk perched upon trees; it took a moment for their leader to silent them.

"Not precisely," was the answer. "What we seek is information. Only then can we confirm whether we are enemies or not. As you should expect, I have some questions for you – it would be best if you, in your current situation, satisfy us."

Avi sighed. "As you wish, Mr Skeleton…?"

The monster waved his hand impatiently. "The name is the Skeleton General, leader and king of the skeletons. Now, what is the name of your kind and your history?"

"We are the humans. We arrived on this land approximately two centuries ago, although text records did not exist until several decades after. Over time our people were divided into numerous political units, recently reunited into a single kingdom of which I was the ruler of before the Endermen turned on us without warning. Does that gratify your curiosity?"

"Partly." The Skeleton General appeared thoughtful, though it was hard to tell much from a bony framework. "Have any of you ventured far from your homeland?"

"Not particularly."

"And you have never encountered beings similar to your kind? Those who do not only possess instinct but also knowledge?"

"No, we have not." Avi wondered where the skeleton's questions were heading for.

The questioning continued: Whether Avi was familiar with the term 'Users', what sort of relation did the humans have with monsters both Undead and alive, whether mankind appeared out of nowhere or had to be given birth to, what their discoveries in the dimension known as The Nether were, et cetera. Avi soon lost track of time. She knew only the ceaseless questions and answers, her parched throat and whirling thoughts, and the dozens of hollow eyes gazing at her.

Then it all stopped.

In the brief moment of silence that ensued, the Skeleton General raised his bow and fitted an arrow to it.

"You have passed," he said, his tone vapid.

"…but still deserve an arrow," Avi presumed.

The skeleton nodded, his grin back on his face. He released the bowstring and Avi instinctively stepped aside, causing it to miss her, zooming over the shelter and splashing into swamp waters.

"That was an ill-considered move, my young Queen."

The Skeleton General's rattling voice partly covered the sound of another projectile whizzing towards its target. Avi tried to dodge it – not that she even knew where it came from – but was too late, and the arrow lodged itself in her back, punching through the layer of leather that protected her torso.

Every thought ceased as she fell onto her knees. She knew only pain, excruciating agony that seemed to be ripping her body asunder. She wanted to scream but found herself mute.

Dimly she heard the words of the Skeleton General. "Consider yourself fortunate, for you are not the ones we seek to eradicate. This is the price I take from you. Remain out of our way or you will regret it."

Avi decided against replying, as every shuddering breath was torture to her. The chattering of the withdrawing skeletons rang in her mind.

Her trembling hand found the shaft of the arrow and attempted to dislodge it, but the sensation was too much for her. She gave a cracked moan and collapsed, prostrate. Then her vision flickered and went out.

The sun sank towards the horizon.


	13. Lamia

**A/N: SORRY THIS IS SO LATE. But I have to bring to your notice that at this rate, the next chapter will come out in about three months. I APOLOGISE BUT I REALLY AM OVERWORKED AND ALL *scurries away***

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Waylon paced the entrance hall with agitated steps, the unruffled countenance of the Royal Mage being no consolation.

"Calm yourself, Waylon," Riane eventually said sedately. "Wild speculations are pointless and your energy is being misspent; staying by me is not going to alter my decision."

Waylon remained silent. After a moment he decided further time spent with the Mage's company would only madden him, excused himself and hurried up to the third floor, where Queen Skye was last seen. It was past midnight and she had not returned. To aggravate Waylon's solicitude, Riane had refused to let anyone out of the shelter – not until past sunrise when he deemed it relatively safe.

Outside, the usual zombies growled as they lumbered about in the darkness. Waylon pressed himself to the ventilation opening and heard the chatter and clatter of skeletons, as well as the infrequent screeching of spiders somewhere in the depths of the swamp.

He sighed and sat down, bracing himself for more hours of nerve-wracking waiting.

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Some kind of fluid was bubbling, the faint sounds mostly overridden by the crackling of a fire.

Avi was lying on her side and felt dry and warm, but also tired; the dominant sensation was the aching of her back. She slowly came to the realisation that the arrow had been removed.

Cracking her eyes open, she squinted at the interior of a cramped structure, the walls of spruce wood planks half-hidden behind apparatuses made unidentifiable by her blurred vision. The air was thick with the odours of Glistering Melons and Nether Wart, not to mention suffused with heat. A woman stood with her back turned towards Avi, who dimly observed braided flaming red hair, feet clad in brown boots, a purple skirt rimmed with green with matching leggings underneath, and around a small waist, a toolbelt displaying an array of small containers and peculiar implements.

_This cannot be—_

The sluggish thought remained incomplete as the woman turned without warning and crouched to meet Avi's height. The latter gasped as she found herself staring into eerie mauve eyes, eyes that flared with some kind of strange energy as though amethyst flames flickered behind the pupils, unnaturally bright under the rim of a large pointed hat.

Avi opened her mouth to speak but instead found the long neck of a glass bottle shoved into it. Scarlet liquid, warm and sweet, rushed down her throat and eased the throbbing of her body.

When the flask was drained, Avi coughed and gasped, "Who—"

"The name is Lamia," the woman interjected, her tone as buoyant as her expression, "and I know you to be a very young Queen. Do tell how old you are."

"I…" Avi stammered, flustered, "fifteen, but—"

"Do young Queens often attempt to drown themselves?"

Lamia's unseemly behaviour had caught Avi off guard, but she was too occupied with recollecting events to consider it at length.

"I woke at dusk to a zombie and was pushed off the edge," she said slowly.

Avi was becoming conscious of the furniture that packed the room: a cauldron over a small fire, some kind of a brewing stand, a table scattered with jars, shelves occupied by bundles of dried plants, and finally an assortment of potted fungi on sills. Her heart sank as the last of her doubts were banished – she was, indeed, in a witch hut.

"Curious that the monster didn't strangle you instead," Lamia was saying.

"Why…why did you save me?" Avi asked, for she knew witches to be solitary and unhelpful, if not downright hostile.

"Because you were an intriguing being; I just had to drag you out of the water and cut that wretched arrow out of you even though it meant missing a night of the full moon." An unsettling smile had crept over the woman's face as she spoke.

Avi felt a prickle of apprehension. "Are you keeping me here?"

Lamia rolled her eyes. "I would love to, but I know what's at stake. I'm going to have to let you go back. You have to stay the night, however. In any case…" The smile on her lips took on a mischievous edge. "You need to give me payment for what I did."

A sudden wave of weariness swept over Avi. Downing the potion of healing a moment ago seemed to only benefit her physical wounds, and although her perturbation had not vanished and she had questions to ask, she only wanted to sleep. _Does she know that the arrow was a price, too? How many of these do I have to give?_

"Then take it," she said weakly, her eyes closing.

Distantly she heard Lamia murmuring, "Poor little saviour…"

There was an emotion behind the words. Was it amusement?

**~~~*{O}*~~~**

Avi woke to the irregular creaking of chests being opened and closed. She was back in the refuge's storage room, staring at the wooden pedestal beside her bed on which a pad of wool rested, bearing her crown.

For a moment she hoped it had just been an exceptionally vivid dream, but she didn't wake up feeling drained and hungry or to someone stashing items in chests at the crack of dawn – if it _was_ even dawn.

She recognised the figure crouching in front of a container and croaked, "Waylon?"

In the following minutes, Waylon hurried to report all that had occurred. Avi had been comatose for three days, brought back to the refuge by Lamia the witch at sunrise the day after she disappeared; only Riane witnessed her entrance and he managed to hide Avi in the storage room before anyone woke. According to Waylon, he had been in exceedingly ill humour.

That night, shortly after the arrival of another group of survivors, a few Endermen made their appearance. Albeit they were too small in number to pose a threat in daylight, Riane called a meeting with the refugees, informing them that the Queen had taken ill and asking for opinions: Whether they wanted to continue loitering in the shelter for safety or act before the Endermen could limit their freedom to do so.

"There were few arguments," Waylon said quietly, "for it is in our nature to carry out our duties even in such circumstances, and as we universally believed that we should take this burden from the Queen's shoulders so that her actions will not be limited to physical toil."

Avi bowed her head. "And so…they actually…"

"Do you agree with our decision, Your Majesty?"

Avi lifted her gaze to meet Waylon's. "I will not work against the opinion of the majority. If this is their choice, I can only thank them for it." She paused before querying, "When is the hour of their return?"

"Sunset; it will not be long now."

"Good. When you have gathered them in the entrance hall, notify me. I need to have a word with them."


End file.
